How the City Council Wants to Spend Your Money

On Monday night, the Mission Viejo City Council laid out its expectations for the coming year's budget.

While there was general agreement that public safety is a big priority, council members each spoke up for a few other programs near and dear to their hearts.

Here are the council budget priorities, as listed by the Orange County Register:

• Mayor Rhonda Reardon wants Mission Viejo to look good from the outside. To that end she recommends the city step up code enforcement to require that yards be maintained. She also wants streets and landscaping to be properly maintained. (Read about the city's landscaping contracts here).
• Councilwoman Trish Kelley emphasized quality-of-life programs.
• Councilman Dave Leckness wants to see the arts flourish with a version of Palm Desert's public art project—in that place the city owns more than 150 pieces of art put on public display. Leckness also wants to see KSBR's "Breakfast with Gary and Kelly" performed live each week.
• Councilwoman Cathy Schlicht said before the city spends any new money, it needs to make sure the funding is in the bank first. She also said the city needs to address its pension liability.
• Councilman Frank Ury wants to upgrade the Nadadores pool, build a bocce ball courts at the Norman P. Murray center and ensure the city's parks and wilderness areas are at "peak level."